Seal.



No.79o,645.

UNITED STATES Patented. May 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SEAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,645, dated.A May 23, 1:905, Application filed December Zi, 1904;.v Serial No. 235,165.

- To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMANN LoHsE, .a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Knoxville, inA the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and vuseful vImprovements in Seals, of

which the following is a specification, refer-A ence being had therein to the accompanying drawings. 4 l 1 This invention relates'to certain new .and useful improvements in seals,uand more par-y ticularly to a seal that is adapted to be employed in connection with an envelop.'

Theinvention has for its object to entirely dispense with all adhesive substances which have heretofore been used for sealing or securing envelops in a closed position, and in constructing my improved 'seal I embody certain novel A'features of constructionv which will permit of the seal being easily and quickly placed in engagement with an envelop, whereby it will be impossible for any person not familiar with the construction ofA the seal to open the envelop.

With the above and other objects in View reference will behad to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which- Figure lis a view of the back of an envelop, illustrating my improved seal in position upon -the same. tional view of an envelop, illustrating the position the seal assumes when engaged in the sealing-Hap and back of the envelop. Fig. 3 is plan view of my improved seal. Fig. L is a perspective view of' my improved seal, illustratinga part of the same in a position which now in use and dispense with the adhesivey material or substances heretofore placed upon the edges of the sealing-Hap.

The referencenumeral l designates the front of the envelop, which has integral end flaps 2 2 and side flaps 3 and 4, the side flap Fig. 2 is a vertical secproximately central of the back of the envelop, and it will be observed by referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings that this slot is formed in the front ,edges of the end flaps 2 2 and the apex of the side flap 4f. The apex of the sealing-Hap 3 is-provided with a slot 6, which when the sealing-hap is closed will aline or cpincide with the slot 5.

The seal, asillustrated in Figs. 3 to 5, inclusive, is substantially of a circular form, and I preferably construct the same of a thin piece of metal comparatively lightin weight. Theseals, if it be so desired, may be stamped or pressed from sheet metal to conform to a disk having tangential segment-shaped arms 7 and 8, whichv are preferably formed integral with the body portion 9 of the seal and lie normally in a plane parallel to the plane of the body portion of the seal. The arm 7 extends outwardly tangential to the periphery ofthe seal, and the arm 8, which is formed integralwith the arm 7 extends rearwardly from the arm 7 in a curved plane concentric to the circumference of the body portion 9.

The manner of securing the sealing-flap in engagement with the body portion of the envelop of my improved seal is as follows: The sealing-flap 3 having been closed and the slot 6 placed in alinement with the slot 5 the arm 7 of the seal is inserted in said slots, at which time lthe arm 8 of the seal is pressed inwardly by the person sealing the envelop andy the seal rotated until the arms 7 and 8 have passed within the envelop. The position the arm 8 will assume when being placed in the envelop is illustrated in Fig. i of the drawings, the formation of the arm 8 permitting of the same being pressed inwardly toward the body vportion of the seal. within the envelop the arm 8 will assume its normal position, which is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. The seal is then rotated in the' reverse direction, and as the arm After the arms have passed TOO 8 has sprung outwardly from the body portion 9 of the seal it will be impossible for the same to move out of the envelop, and as the seal is rotated the body portion of the envelop in the vicinity of the slot 6 will travel into the niche 10, formed between the arm 8 and the body portion 9 of the seal.

It will be observed by the peculiar construction of my improved seal, together with the position it assumes when secured in an envelop, as illustrated in Fig. of the drawings, that it Will be impossible for any person to open the envelop after the seal has been once rotated into position Within the envelop, also preventing any person from surreptitiously opening the same.

While I have herein shown my improved seal as particularly adapted for envelops, it is obvious that the same lmay be readily employed upon packages and receptacles Where is is desired to seal the same in a closed position, it being understood, of course, that it is necessary that these packages or receptacles be of such a nature that it is impossible for access to be had to the interior of the same after they have once been sealed.

It -Will be noted that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the general spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. The combination with an envelop having slots formed therein, of a seal, said seal comprising an unattached disk or body portionhaving tangential segment-shaped arms adapted to engage within said slots, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an envelop, the closure-flaps of said envelop having slots formed therein, of a seal, said seal comprising an unattaehed disk or body portion, arms carried by said disk or body portion and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of said body portion and adapted to engage within the slots of said envelop, substantially as described.

3. A seal of the type described com prising a substantially circular disk having tangential segment-shaped integral arms disposedin a plane parallel to the body portion of said disk.

4. A seal of the type described comprising` a substantially circular disk, reversely-extending curved arms carried by said disk, substantially as described.

5. The combination with an envelop, the sealing-Hap of said envelop having a slot formed therein, the back of said envelop having a slot formed therein, and adapted to eoincide With the lirst-named slot when the sealing-flap is in a closed position, of a seal, said seal consisting of a detached disk or body portion, tangential segment-shaped oppositelyextending arms carried by said disk or body portion and adapted to engage within said slots, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. The combination with an envelop having end flaps, a side liap and a sealing-Hap, the said side Hap and the sealing-Hap overlapping the end fiaps and all the said flaps being provided with slots which register when the envelop is closed, of a metallic seal comprising a detached disk having two oppositelyextending curved arms disposed in a plane parallel to the body of the disk, said arms extending through the said registering slots and bearing on the inner surface oi the end flaps, and the body of the seal bearing on the outer surface of the sealing-flap when the envelop is closed.

In testimony whereof l aiiix my si gnature in the presence of two witnesses.

HERMANN LOHSE.

Witnesses:

E. E. POTTER, WM. C. HEITZ. 

